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G32 Turbo

The elusive G32 Turbo prototype.

CARS and Car Conversions magazine. December 1991

‘The G32 is rather under-powered. Or should I say was rather under-powered, because Collins Performance Engineering have had their hands on one and the results are stunning. Considering the Collins are specialists with Ford engines, going for their advice was a logical step. Collins have been tuning and racing Fords for the last ten years, in particular providing their own up-rated computer chips for RS500 and RS200 road and competition cars.

The G32 Turbo has basically been designed for track use, hence the subdued paint scheme on the prototype. “The car came to us via a customer who had just bought one and had prompted Martin Phaff into looking at a turbo version.

“The G32 was not an easy car to tune, Ginetta use a normally aspirated 1900, which you can’t just add a turbo to. We’ve had to have the whole thing balanced, the crank tuftrided and so on. It was a major operation. A new specially developed Piper camshaft has also been added, with the object being lots of power low down the rev range. A Cosworth engine management system takes care of the ignition timing and a Cosworth fuel system is going to be added to this car. The turbo itself is a hybrid Garrett T3 with a RS200-like roof mounted intercooler.

They have added a straight cut close-ratio racing gearbox although they had difficulty in obtaining a high enough final drive. “The engine revs to 7200rpm, but the box is designed to go up to 8500rpm.The gear linkage is still a problem. “We’re going to have to stiffen the engine mounts to stop it flexing as much as it does. The gear lever moves about 2” under heavy braking and accelerating.”

Maximum torque of 240ibs ft is delivered between 3400-6400rpm, while Collins calculates the power output to be in the region of 260bhp. “The car accelerates just about as fast as you can change gear. It’s phenomenal.”

The turbo conversion has taken Collins’ around three months to develop and costs around £10,000. Out on the road the G32 turbo lets you know exactly what it is, howling through every gear and snorting the excess power out through the wastegate. It is a phenomenally quick car with enough fuss and sheer noise to make you feel as though youre doing 120mph at least 100 mph before you actually are…..’